Zacks Research Lowers Earnings Estimates for Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Elevance Health in a research note issued on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the company will earn $5.41 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $5.68. Zacks Research has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Elevance Health’s current full-year earnings is $33.96 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Elevance Health’s Q4 2026 earnings at $3.43 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $6.01 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $33.47 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Elevance Health from $400.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho set a $413.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Elevance Health from $431.00 to $409.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Elevance Health from $359.00 to $352.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $400.00 price target on Elevance Health in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Elevance Health has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.55.

Elevance Health Price Performance

Shares of ELV stock opened at $336.24 on Wednesday. Elevance Health has a twelve month low of $273.71 and a twelve month high of $458.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.50.

Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $49.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.52 billion. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 2.84%.Elevance Health’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.84 earnings per share. Elevance Health has set its FY 2026 guidance at 25.500- EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Elevance Health

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Elevance Health by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,998,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,431,322,000 after purchasing an additional 141,747 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Elevance Health by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,621,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,473,000 after buying an additional 303,099 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Elevance Health by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 5,825,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,265,773,000 after buying an additional 1,152,440 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Elevance Health by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,576,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,857,000 after acquiring an additional 901,626 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Elevance Health by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,022,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,410,219,000 after acquiring an additional 24,271 shares during the last quarter. 89.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Elevance Health Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $6.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Elevance Health’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71. Elevance Health’s payout ratio is presently 27.23%.

Elevance Health News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Elevance Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSN published a bullish take highlighting two reasons to like ELV (and one caution). The piece frames the company’s recent operational strength and valuation as positives that support the stock’s move higher. 2 reasons to like ELV (and 1 not so much)
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reported results: ELV beat Q3/Q4 consensus on EPS ($3.33 vs. $3.10) and posted ~9.6% revenue growth year-over-year; management set FY2026 EPS guidance around $25.50 — these items underpin investor confidence in near-term profitability and support valuation (PE ~13.4).
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks issued a mixture of tweaks to quarterly models — it raised a few near‑term quarter estimates (e.g., Q4 2027 and Q3 2027 uplift) while leaving a “Hold” rating in place. Those isolated raises offer limited upside until broader guidance/trajectory is confirmed.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks materially trimmed several near‑term and full‑year forecasts: FY2026 down to ~$25.53 (from ~$29.01) and FY2027 to ~$28.40 (from ~$31.89), plus multiple Q1/Q2 quarter cuts. The cuts reduce forward EPS expectations and could weigh on the stock if other analysts follow suit or if management doesn’t reaffirm stronger guidance.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health, Inc (NYSE: ELV) is a large U.S.-based health benefits company that provides a broad range of health insurance products and related services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the company rebranded from Anthem, Inc to Elevance Health in 2022 while continuing to operate consumer-facing health plans under established state and national brands. Gail Boudreaux serves as chief executive officer and president, leading the company’s strategic focus on integrated health care and benefit delivery.

Elevance’s core activities include offering medical and specialty health plans for individuals, employers and government programs, including Medicare and Medicaid managed-care products.